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Monday, 19 September 2016

Deus
Ex: Mankind Divided is the highly anticipated sequel to Human
Revolution. Set two years following the events of HR, Mankind Divided
sees the return of Adam Jensen, now working for Task Force 29 – an
anti-terrorist division within Interpol. As you would expect from a
Deus Ex title, it’s not long before Jensen finds himself caught
within a tangled web of conspiracy, surrounded by people he’s not
entirely sure he can trust.

The
game is divided into three primary acts – Prague (Day), Prague
(Night) and Prague (Curfew). Prague is the main ‘hub’ within
which many of the core and side missions occur. It’s split into two
areas, separated by a somewhat tedious load screen. Those expecting a
second hub or more locational variety may be disappointed, but the
Prague hub is far more extensive and complex than comparable areas in
Human Revolution.

Entry
to this hub is preceded by an opening tutorial mission set in Dubai.
There are also missions set in other locations at the end of every
act – Golem City, the Swiss Alps and London. Golem City is by far
the most complex, the Swiss Alps the least. These single missions do
provide a little taste of the globe trotting adventure you might
expect from a Deus Ex title, but as I said, those expecting multiple
hub areas may be disappointed.

And
I must admit, the Prague hub did begin to lose its appeal towards the
end of the game. The hub itself is fantastic, with an incredible
attention to detail and an extensive selection of side missions.
Exploring the hub is extremely rewarding with the chance to find
weapons, equipment or information that further serves to flesh out
the world, story and characters.

That
said, the hub does somewhat outstay its welcome by the third and
final act when the size of the hub, though impressive, does lead to a
lot of tedious running from A to B. This is especially irritating
when some of the final core and side quests require bouncing back and
forth between the two separate loading areas. And, to make matters
worse, Prague becomes a ‘hostile’ zone during the third act, so
simply getting about becomes something of a tedious chore.

The
ending of Human Revolution was arguably its weakest aspect, and
unfortunately the same is true of Mankind Divided. From the Swiss
Alps mission at the end of Act 2, through to the final mission in
London, everything feels rushed to a rather unsatisfying conclusion.
It’s a shame, because everything up until that point is absolutely
fantastic.

The
gameplay of Mankind Divided is essentially a more refined and
expanded version of that which we had in Human Revolution. With
multiple options for either non-lethal stealth, lethal stealth or a
combat oriented approach, Mankind Divided offers the gameplay variety
and player choice that you would expect.

Jensen’s
augmentations are expanded, offering new abilities both lethal and
non-lethal. The hacking mini-game is also expanded and refined. The
core gameplay of Mankind Divided is a near perfect refinement of
everything from Human Revolution. And, like Human Revolution, the
game has some fantastic level design both in the Prague hub and
single missions that allow the player to take multiple paths or
approaches to their objectives.

The
side content of Mankind Divided is excellent, with a variety of
substantial, multiple stage missions. Like the hub itself, these are
far more extensive than those in Human Revolution. In addition to the
side missions, there are also ‘points of interest’ that further
encourage exploration of the hub to uncover various secrets, tools
and upgrades.

Of
course, giving the player such freedom to explore the hub as they
please may result in them stumbling across mission related locations,
information or items earlier than they were intended. But the game
handles this aspect extremely well, so you’re free to to explore
without fear of ‘breaking’ any future missions.

The
majority of the game – the mission in Dubai, Prague (Day), Golem
City and Prague (Night) is fantastic. Great missions. Great level
design. Rewarding and enjoyable gameplay. Unfortunately, Mankind
Divided loses its way somewhat from the end of Act 2 onwards. The
Swiss Alps mission is disappointingly simple compared to the
complexity of Golem City. And the third act – Prague (Curfew) –
is a short and hurried act, artificially lengthened by the rather
pointless ‘hostile’ nature of the map.

This
leads onto the final mission in London. Thankfully, the final mission
is well designed and enjoyable from both a gameplay and story
perspective, but the game falls at the final hurdle by ending with a
rather lacklustre boss fight and an extremely short and unsatisfying
cut scene. It doesn’t wrap up much in terms of the various story
threads and just falls rather flat.

If
you were expecting all the clues and evidence you’ve been
collecting will lead to an ending that ties everything together,
you’ll be pretty disappointed. The ending feels rushed, with a
sudden switch of focus, rather convenient and hurried plot
developments, and no real feeling of achievement. Very little of what
is set up throughout the game, either in core or side quests, feels
like it pays off in any meaningful way as the game ends on an abrupt
cliffhanger. Which is why, in many ways, Mankind Divided feels like
only the first part of a larger story.

And
I’m totally fine with that, and I’d more than welcome another
Deus Ex game continuing Jensen’s story, but this game needed an
ending that offered much more to the player than it does. An ending
that tied together the various conspiracy threads into a satisfying
conclusion whilst also providing new revelations that set up another
sequel. As it is, the ending to Mankind Divided doesn’t really do
either. It just kind of stops.

I
won’t get into story specifics, but it’s an enjoyable tale, with
all the mystery, suspicion and conspiracies you’d expect. It also
deals more heavily with various social issues that are a direct
result of events in Human Revolution. Although a little heavy handed
at times, it deals with these issues in a fairly thoughtful and
engaging manner.

The
cast is good, and almost entirely new aside (obviously) from Jensen
and the reappearance of a key character from the original in an
important side mission. But I would’ve liked to have seen Pritchard
and Malik make a return.

Another
disappointing aspect with regards to the story is how few and short
the core missions are compared to Human Revolution. Whereas the bulk
of the content in HR revolved around its core story, the bulk of the
content in Mankind Divided is found in its side content and
exploration, not in its main story thread – which you could
probably breeze through quite easily in 6-8 hours. So although I
enjoyed the story, it’s not quite as substantial a campaign when
compared to the original, and the lacklustre ending makes it all feel
a little pointless.

Technically,
the game runs fine but not perfectly. I was running on a custom High
setting, and getting around 40-50 FPS. It could probably do with a
little further optimisation, but as long as you tweak the settings
appropriately to suit your system, performance shouldn’t be a major
issue.

Graphically,
Mankind Divided is a nice looking game, but character models appear a
little dated, and animations during conversations are still oddly
stiff. The game also ditches the infamous ‘piss filter’ of Human
Revolution. It never bothered me that much, but I can’t say I miss
it, and the new colour palette is more appropriate for the tone and
setting.

Outside
of its campaign, Mankind Divided also features a separate mini-game
mode called ‘Breach’ that sees you attempt to hack data from
within a virtual environment. It’s a rather pointless, if harmless
addition that seems tacked on to sell micro-transactions. In fact,
there are micro-transactions you can purchase during the campaign for
more credits or upgrade points.

I
don’t know why anyone would, as the game is finely balanced in
terms of player progression, and purchasing these items would break
that progression entirely. But the option is there, and all it’s
really going to do is piss people off. Micro-transactions in a single
player, full price release? I can’t imagine any profit they
actually make off this pointless addition will be worth the player
backlash.

When
it came to scoring Mankind Divided, I was close to giving the game a
solid 9. Despite my complaints, it’s an absolutely fantastic sequel
to Human Revolution and easily one of the best titles I’ve played
this year. But its core campaign isn’t as compelling or complete as
that in Human Revolution, and when I hit that lacklustre ending, it
felt like a right kick in the balls. But still, despite that
disappointing final act, Mankind Divided is quite easily in the
running for my personal Game of the Year and it comes highly
recommended.

Tuesday, 13 September 2016

Friday, 9 September 2016

The
second and final expansion to The Witcher 3, Blood & Wine takes
Geralt on an adventure to an entirely new region – Toussaint. With
a new map to explore, a substantial core quest chain, dozens of side
quests, new monsters and new weapons and armour, Blood & Wine
offers excellent value, with an abundance and variety of content that
would put many fully priced titles to shame.

And
yet, though I hate to admit it, I found myself feeling a little
disappointed by Blood & Wine. In terms of content, I certainly
can’t complain, with 10-20 hours of play if you complete all of the
core and side quests. Include the treasure hunting, points of
interest, crafting and home decoration (seriously) and you could
probably get a good 30 hours out of this expansion.

No,
it’s not the content that disappoints me, but rather the
presentation. Compared to the first expansion – Hearts of Stone –
Blood & Wine isn’t quite as polished or perfectly paced. The
core quest chain of Blood & Wine is a somewhat uneven tale, with
a slow and tedious beginning, a clumsy middle and a (thankfully)
fantastic end. As with my Hearts of Stone review, I won’t get into
specifics of the story as I’d rather not spoil anything.

But
like HoS, Blood & Wine begins with the offer of a monster
contract which quickly reveals itself to be part of a much larger
puzzle. Unfortunately, the core story quests vary in terms of quality
from one to the next. The pacing also feels off when, after a slow
start, things suddenly feel very rushed. Fortunately, the conclusion
to the main story makes it all worth it, with a nice variety of
possible outcomes based on your unique decisions.

In
fact, there are entire chunks of gameplay that you will miss
depending on your chosen path. And this is then followed by a lovely
‘epilogue’ scene that varies depending on choices you made during
the main game. It’s a nice way to bring a little closure to The
Witcher 3 experience as a whole.

But
the core story certainly doesn’t feel as polished as that in Hearts
of Stone, and that’s really the unfortunate thing about this
expansion as a whole. And although it’s a matter of personal taste,
I felt more engaged by the story of HoS as opposed to Blood &
Wine. It’s still a fine tale and an enjoyable new adventure, but
that lack of polish and uneven pacing certainly doesn’t help.

In
terms of side content, although I enjoyed many of the side quests
from a narrative perspective, few were particularly engaging or
memorable from a gameplay perspective. There’s little complexity on
offer, with many quests being fairly simplistic in nature and easy to
complete.

There’s
also, unlike HoS, no truly memorable fights or encounters. But I did
enjoy the new monster types, as well as the new weapons and armour on
offer. This expansion also overhauls the game’s UI and menu system
into something a little less troublesome to navigate.

I
hate to sound too negative about Blood & Wine, because what’s
here is actually really good, but I can’t say I agree with all the
praise I’ve seen lavished upon it either. I found the entire expansion to
be too rough around the edges and hastily put together, with none of the quality or polish of the previous expansion.
Whereas HoS felt more quality over quantity, Blood & Wine feels
more like the opposite.

But
if you loved The Witcher 3 I’d certainly recommend Blood &
Wine. The conclusion to the core story and the final epilogue scenes
make it a wonderful way to wrap up The Witcher 3 as a whole, making
it an essential purchase if you’re a fan.

Monday, 5 September 2016

Battlefield
1 is a gorgeous, technically impressive first person shooter set
during World War 1. It’s a fantastic looking game, and the organic
terrain destruction and deformation is incredible to witness over the
duration of a match. Performance is rock solid, loading is fast, and
I had zero issues with matchmaking.

And,
most importantly, it’s fun – in a mindlessly repetitive sort of
way. But that’s really the problem with Battlefield 1. I enjoyed
the beta in the same way I enjoyed the Star Wars: Battlefront beta –
fun, for a short time, but the flaws quickly became apparent. Because
like Battlefront, Battlefield 1 is a fun, but undoubtedly shallow and
repetitive shooter, with serious questions regarding content and
pricing.

But
let’s start with the good stuff, shall we? As I said, Battlefield 1
is gorgeous, but it’s the terrain deformation that I found to be
the most impressive aspect. As bombs are dropped, tanks open fire, or
artillery shells explode, entire structures are destroyed or
collapse. The ground is pockmarked by shell craters and the entire
nature of the map and your engagement with the enemy transforms as a
result.

Craters
become cover for advancing infantry. Tanks roll through walls or
blast houses to pieces – and anyone hiding inside. As planes race
overhead, strafing the ground or dropping bombs, Battlefield 1 is an
incredible spectacle in motion. The chaos of the Conquest mode
creates an exciting and engaging conflict.

And
chaotic is really the best word to describe Conquest. There is
some semblance of order to be found in matches, but it tends to be
fleeting and depends heavily on how willing your team are to
coordinate their attacks. Fortunately, the game is designed to
encourage cooperative play, with many vehicles requiring multiple
players to be at their most effective.

But
the mode also isn’t without its problems. The map available in the
beta may have been impressive in terms of scale, but much of it was
simply empty terrain, with one capture point placed out in the middle
of nowhere. You could cut that entire area out of the map and it
would benefit the ‘flow’ of the action far better, as the
conflict would then be focused across a central corridor.

The
map also doesn’t cater much to close range, infantry assault
outside of the central town, with so much open ground making it
heaven for the scout/sniper class, able to go prone on a rocky hill
and rack up easy kills on players who are unfortunate enough to spawn
out in the middle of the open desert.

And
spawning, as it was in Battlefront, is a real issue. Sometimes I’d
select a spawn location, only to be shunted elsewhere at the last
second. And your placement around the spawn areas can be very hit or
miss. Sometimes you’ll spawn near cover, but many times you’ll
spawn completely exposed in the open and promptly be shot before you
can even react. Several times I spawned in the path of an enemy
vehicle.

Bad
luck? Maybe. But there really needs to be more feedback for a player
prior to spawning – such as the health of a vehicle before you
choose to spawn inside of it. A few times I spawned into a vehicle
only for it to suddenly explode. It’s these little irritations that
drag the experience down. Too many deaths feel cheap because of how
the game handles its spawn system.

Oh,
and vaulting. Vaulting is one of most annoying aspects of the
game. It should offer more fluid movement over and around the
environment, but over half the time you attempt to vault an object
(the rocky terrain is the worst) you’ll continually bounce back and
be a sitting duck for anyone nearby. Also, doors. Doors really
shouldn’t be an issue, but attempting to open doors when you’re
not charging through them is a frustratingly hit and miss endeavour.

Vehicles
in Battlefield 1 are also ridiculously effective. With the ability to
infinitely self-repair, you can spend entire matches roaming the map
in a tank, racking up kills with ease. All of my top scoring matches
in terms of kills came from simply sitting in a tank. If you’re
careful, repair when you need to, and don’t get overconfident, you
can stay in a tank from beginning to end and tally up an impressive
kill/death ratio. But is it fun to do that? Well … not really.

Classes
are another issue, with the Medic and Support classes being almost
entirely useless. The Support lacks the mobility or anti-vehicle
versatility of the Assault class. It’s not as effective at close
range, or even mid-range, and it doesn’t have the long range power
of the Scout. The Medic, on the other hand, is simply redundant.

When
playing as a Medic you’ll never know who needs healing because
there’s no real visual feedback of that. But people regenerate
health within a matter of seconds anyway, so why would you need to?
People die, respawn or regenerate so quickly that the Medic class is
entirely unnecessary. Nearly every match of the beta was dominated by
the Assault and Scout classes – with people switching between the
two depending on which area of the map they were spawning into.

Although
I enjoyed the controlled chaos of Conquest, I was more hopeful for
the second available mode – Rush – as it provided a more direct,
objective focused push from A to B. But Rush, due to the open nature
of the map, quickly became dominated by a heavy focus on sniper play,
with many matches descending into both teams taking shots at each
other whilst laying prone amidst the rocks.

Of
course, many of these issues can be fixed or improved over time. And
despite my concerns regarding class balance, map design, vehicle
effectiveness and the spawn system, I can’t deny I had fun playing
this beta. Because the game is damn spectacular at times. Like
Battlefront, it’s a game with many wow! moments, all of
which arise unscripted from the chaos.

But
also like Battlefront, I have concerns regarding content and pricing.
I can’t find any clear indication of how many maps or modes will be
available at release, but they’re already pushing lots of
pre-order, in-game content in addition to ridiculously priced
‘deluxe’ and ‘ultimate’ editions. When Titanfall 2 is
offering all future maps and modes for free, it’s certainly a more
attractive option.

I
hate to be too negative about Battlefield 1 though, because it does
seem to be offering more content than Battlefront did, and as I’ve
said multiple times – it is pretty fun to play. But I have my
doubts about long term appeal and how the new modes and maps will be
split between content DLC packs – and potentially splitting the
player base. I won’t be picking it up at release. Like Battlefront,
I may eventually get it on sale, but if Titanfall 2 is as good as I
hope (although the beta has me a little worried) then I’ll probably
quite happily forget all about Battlefield 1.

I
love the horses though. They’re like super fast mobile tanks.
Riding about and slashing people to death with a sword on horseback
is great!